


A Price to Pay is the Ciphers Way

by Wavrn



Category: Gravity Falls, Star vs. The Forces Of Evil
Genre: Bare with me school is time consuming, Crossover, M/M, Multi, OCC - Freeform, Transformation, a bit occ
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-07
Updated: 2020-06-04
Packaged: 2020-06-24 05:43:45
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 14,995
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19717390
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wavrn/pseuds/Wavrn
Summary: What do you do on the verge of death ? Watching your life fade away as you gasp your final breath.  Fear takes over causing ones mind to be quite not so sober.Pray... But be careful for the wrong ones might be listening.Marco is in for one hell of an adventure living with Ciphers and unveiling the past... But how hard could that be ? Right my little Aureuaeq ?





	1. Chapter 1

**Marco's PoV **

Laying under a pail of rubble, I try to stretch by hand out to my friends....help...it hurts. I see Tom staring in my direction, frozen on the spot. I try calling out his name, but not a single sound comes out. Boulders and flames keep coming down around me. Tom...help me...please...Star... In all the chaos that is surrounding us, I see a hand pull Tom into the portal before it completely closes. Leaving me alone in this madness, broken bones, crushed limbs, bleeding out. No...don't leave me. Why? Why am I alone? Why did they leave me behind without looking? Mom. Dad. I'm sorry...I'm weak...I'm afraid.

Letting tears silently run down my blood-stained cheeks, I let out a broken plea.

"I...I d-don't w-want...to d-die!" crying. Please help me. I'm scared to die! Why me? Why is it always me?!.... Some...one

Everything started to fade into darkness...No...

I heard a voice whisper in my ear, "Sure, its a deal, my pet." 

**Bill's PoV **

Grinning at the boy in my arms, with a snap of my fingers, we arrive at my home. Setting him down on one of the beds in the extra rooms, I quickly get to work on re-creating him. Grabbing his face and opening one eye staring into it, I start to search through his mind. Erasing everything, reconstructing DNA, blood cells, and soul. I begin to hear a sizzling sound and look to see my symbol forming around his mole on his cheek, turning the same yellow as my eye glowing. Perfect.

His skin starts to mold, changing different shades and settling on a light brown tan. But that all that changes, his dying beating heart slows down even more.

That's not good.

Getting frustrated, I start to seep more of my power into his body. But it does nothing, it's only making me exhausted. Damnit, I guess I'm still recovering. Well, this was an experiment after all.

Stopping the process, I grumble and glare down at the human that was slowly descending into death.

"Damnit, stupid human!" I growled. Curiosity getting the best of me, I quickly go get my brother Will from the reverse dimension of Gravity Falls and pop us back here.

"B-Bill !? W-What a-are y-" Will stops stammering mid-sentence and looks down at the body on the bed," B-bill w-why is t-there a d-dead h-human h-here?!"

"Oh, just shut up and help me bring him back to life," I snapped.

"Why?!" Will exclaimed looking at me as if I lost my mind...I mean, I did quite a few times, but that's not the point.

"Because I wanted to experiment to see if we have the power to create something new, something different, something irreversible on a similar level as us. Besides, the kid was already dying anyway. Tom and his friends left him for dead. He didn't want to die, and I want a pet, simple deal. Now shut up and help me!" I said, quickly going back to the human.

Will hesitantly followed suit and started to concentrate some of his power into the boy. Slowly, the human's heart began to beat again. The mist of his soul appearing and reconstructing into something different. A skull of a beast? The energy flow of both Will and I encasing his body, turning into his own. Slowly the painful process of body modification began. I began grinning as the boy's face scrunched up and started withering in pain as his teeth becoming sharp and rigid, canines growing large along with sharp nails. Three sets of horns grew from his skull, a pair drooped encasing the front of his face, a pair atop curved forward while the tips curved in a little, and finally, a pair curled straight back.

Hmm... how odd. Great!

"B-brother are y-you s-sure this w-won't k-kill him?" Will question nervously looking down at him.

"Just concentrate. He's going to die either way," I replied, not looking up at him.

A skull-like mask encases over half his face covering one eye, ears shaping to a small point while another set of skeletal-like dog ears sits upon his head. Scanning down his body, a long tail appendage form covered in bones appear. Similar to a spine, each born is separated while still lining up with each other while a glowing green flow of energy can be seen between the alined bones.

"Just...what the hell did we create...I like it!" I thought while admiring my creation. Will just looked at me and simply rolled his eyes to exhausted to really make a fretting remark.

Looking at the boy's right hand, I see Will's symbol appears in blue. Damnit, why couldn't his appear in a less obvious place? I started heavily huffing because I realize I'm out of breath. Wow, that's new. Stupid human body. I look over and see Will in the same state. Well, at least it's done.

There was a quick but faint glowing light. Dispersing as quickly as it came.

Glaring down at the interruption of unwelcome light, I go rigid.

There lay where the human once was, was a three-headed dog-like creature.

"Now I see why he had three sets of horns," I thought out loud, running a hand down its spine.

"A-aw h-he's cute!" Will exclaims, cooing at the sleeping once human creature.

This ought to be fun.


	2. Awaken

"The kids been sleeping for a month now we probably screwed up," Bill sighed while sitting in an armchair.

"W-well w-we did b-bring him b-back to life, m-maybe his b-body is t-trying t-to adapt," Will chewed nervously on the tip of his thumb. Bill was on the verge of giving up such failure as the boy had been in a comatose state for nearly a month. Will, on the other hand, didn't want to give up hope as he is the more caring of the two.

"W-what do I-I even t-tell m-ma...I_I mean T-Tyrone a-as to why I- I've been d-disappearing a-a lot," Will muttered while pacing back and forth in a panic.

"Ugh, I can't believe you love that stupid Burningtree," Bill huffed and rolled his eyes, "weakling."

"...Y-you got d-defeated by n-normal Dipper and M-Mable."

" Why you little-," Bill growled out as he stood up but stopped when he heard a loud thud down the hall.

A few minutes earlier, down the long halls of the mansion, in a room with a large bed in the center, lays a boy with brown and light green hair that has grown to shoulder length over the long month of slumber.

"Why does my head hurt so much?" Macro thought as he carefully began to curl and uncurl his toes and fingers. Slowly regaining motility of his joints and muscle. His eyes finally fluttered open, blinking a few times to steady his vision. Cautiously sitting up, he winced at the pain that shoots down his neck. Feeling the source of pain and heaviness coming from his head, Marco reached up and felt hard, smooth, and thick bone-like objects sitting atop his skull. Three to be exact, all angled in different ways,"...Heavy," shot through his groggy mind.

**Thunk! Thunk!**

" Huh? What's that?" Curiously tilting his slightly head to the side only to quickly lift it back up--The thumping stopped.

" Erm...Oh, what's this?" Marco looked next to him to see a long skeletal appendage running from behind him all the way over the edge of the bed. Curiously, but with more caution, peeking over to get a better look, yet with Marco horns being so massive still caused him to fall face-first flat on the floor.

**Thud!**

There was shuffling coming down the hall getting closer. Appearing in the doorway, Bill and Will stared shockingly at the boy, still laying flat on the floor.

"Whoa, he's awake."

"A-ARE YOU O-OKAY!" Will exclaimed, running over and kneeling next to Marco, who groaned while being lifted up onto the bed. Marco whimpers and holds his head. Everything hurts! Tears prickled in the corner of his eyes and eventually ran down his cheeks from how tight he was squeezing them.

"S-shhh y-you're okay," Will said softly as he tenderly rubbed his head to try to soothe the pain. Marco let out little pained whimpers as Will continued to run his hand through his hair while gently massaging his scalp.

" Oh, quit spoiling the kid," Bill rolled his eyes as he walked over and studied said kids' appearance with a slightly bored expression," didn't do a bad job!"

At the loud exclamation, Marco's extra set of dog ears lowered. Will slightly glared over at his brother as he cooed softly down to Marco, " I-it's o-okay, he's n-naturally an l-loudmouth."

Bill growled and shook his enflamed fist towards him, "Will I swear I'm gonna—"

A low hurried "Sorry" was squeaked out from below them. Both dream demons looked down at the source and saw the boy in Will arm's shaking with his head lowered submissively.

"B-Bill!?" Will exclaimed voice filled with a mixture of irritation and anxiousness while pulling Marco closer," D-do s-something," Will gritted out.

Sighing, Bill crossed his arm and sneered at him, " At least he is cowering in fear like he is supposed too. Will stop babying him, he is supposed to be a beast not like yo-" Bill paused mid-statement as his words got caught in his throat by the sudden look that was being thrown his way. Now Bill has known his brother all his life and has never seen such malice and protective gaze grace the shy blue demons face. He was utterly taken aback by such a thing and only stood there quietly in shock for a few seconds. Giving in and sighing inwardly, Bill raised his hand and gently rubbed Marco's head. "Look here Marco--"

"....W-who...is Marco?" He shyly asked while slightly tilting his head to the side, looking genuinely confused. This caused the brothers' eyes to widen slightly and glance at each other.

"Well, this was to be expected," Bill voiced as he rubbed his chin as he thought, _huh...Interesting._

"Oh, where are my manners!"

"What manners?" Will muttered while subconsciously petting Marco. Bill rolled his eyes and continued his sentence."The name's Bill Cipher, and that is Will," he pointed at said demon then grinned," but you can call us Master!"

Will looked a bit skeptical at the thought of being called Master, given his past experience. He shudders a bit at the memories, which caused the boy in his arms to look up at him and tilt his head questionably like how a dog would cock its head sideways. Though he quickly tilts his head back up from the shot of pain going through his neck. 

"Who...am I?" He looks up at his masters with a slightly dazed but innocent expression. The brothers looked at each other for a moment before looking back at Marco. 

"Aureu aeq," Will says with a gentle smile. 

"I wanted to name you something cool," Bill grumbled while crossing his arms.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little warning, there is a tad bit of violence and some more throughout the story, the rate will also eventually go up. I'm still debating if I want to be descriptive with certain parts. But! I promise there are lots of cute moments.

The first few weeks were a bit hazardous, with a slightly rocky relationship between Marco and Bill. With Will having to stay for long periods with his Dipper and not revealing what he was doing while away, Bill had a hard time managing Marco. Since Bill was, literal and personality-wise, a very boisterous person; Always on the wild and dangerous side, always wanting things to be rambunctious and fun. Always wanting control of everything and to be feared by all. However, Marco was technically just born anew and was honestly frightened and curious like a small kitten, exploring everything and flinching away from it in a heartbeat, sometimes he freezes up, which looks like he’s trying to imitate a statue. He usually shies away from Bill whenever he is to close or enters the room who didn't seem to mind as much.

His fluffy brown and slightly green ears were always drooping. He eventually learns how to control the weight of all three sets horns on his head, and managed to have one set at a time. Right now, it’s only the hung set of horns that curl down towards his shoulders. It was accidental at the time when he learned how to do this. Right before Will left, he was resting across Will’s lap as he was petting his head when all of a sudden, Bill popped into existence right in front of them yelling, “Hey mutt!”. Marco jumped at least 3 feet into the air and right off Will’s lap onto the floor. Bill busted out in a fit of laughter while Will lifted Marco up off of the ground, cradling and frantically asking if he was hurt. Don’t know where he got the strength from, but that was beside the point, Will is a mystery for another time.

Bill stopped laughing when he heard Will ceased his worried filled rambling. Questionably looking his way, he paused and looked at Marco, who was just as stunned as they were. Instead of having three sets of horns, two disappeared, and the only thing that was left was the pair of the low set. Will was sputtering congratulations and cooing encouragement along with how proud he was. Promising Bills’ long and painful demise if he ever did that again to him. What a fond memory.

Currently, Marco was on the third floor of a balcony, looking out at the hellish dimension that the Ciphers created mixed into the mindscape. It seemed like an endless sea of blood-red, but further off a keen eye could see the red ending and a sea of foggy white beginning. There were trees within the boundary of the red sky, dark and eerie. But it was home to some of the creatures that followed under Bill and the other Ciphers. There were also some structures not too far from the mansion that is inhabited by more minions. Marco has not yet met any of said minions; Will won’t let him, not yet at least. Bill rolled his eyes at that and said he was overreacting since none of them weren’t allowed to touch their pet unless given permission. Anywho, Marco, who was lazily slumped over the cream stoned banister pushing into his chest, was blankly looking at everything over yonder. He couldn’t help but wonder why his Master Will hasn’t returned yet. Letting out a loud whine at this thought, his eyes began to water.

“I miss…master,” He softly said to nothing, feeling the weird burning sensation in his eye Marco let out another pitiful whine.

“What do you mean you miss Master?” said a voice from behind him. Startled, Marco nearly jumped over the ledge but instead hit his forehead. Reeling back and holding his forehead down on the ground yowling out in pain. Macro screamed out in his mind for master Will to make the pain go away, it was weird, and it hurt. It had rattled his brain quite a bit, giving him a weird numb type of pain going threw is mind. He heard a low deep growl and felt the air shift coldly around him. Opening up his eye, he came face to face to a frightening sight that caused him to freeze up in fear.

“Well, mutt? Answer me,” Bill sneered agitatedly down at him. His gaze was cold and eye hard, teeth grinding. Marco was petrified, shaking at the sight of his mean and angered Master. For what he was angry for he did not know.

 _“Maybe I spoke out of line or when I wasn’t supposed_ _to_ ,” he thought as he stared right into Bill’s eye, then he lowed his head all the way to the ground with a guilty look. But, this only seemed to spur his anger as Bill yanked Marco head up by a fist full of hair. Marco’s eyes widened in fear and whimpered in distress, which silenced when he was held by the neck.

“So …THIS IS HOW YOU REPAY ME, THANK ME FOR SAVING YOUR WORTHLESS PATHETIC LIFE,” Bill tone kept getting louder and louder fused in with growling as he spoke. Throwing Marco into the building onto the wooden floorboard with a loud thud, which honestly sounded like it hurt. But the fear that racked his mind was more significant than the slight pain. Staring with eyes the size of snow globe up at his Master who was walking closer towards him. Marco kept scooting back with every step advanced towards him, and that really infuriated Bill.

“I AM THE ONE WHO SAVED YOU FIRST. YOU MADE A DEAL WITH ME YOU WORTHLESS FUCKING MUTT!”, with every step, Bill kept spewing out hateful, hurtful, demeaning words, one after another. Marco really didn’t know what some of them meant or some of the things he was talking about. Still, the tone and body language of his Master, he knew it was not right and was very aggressive. He was trying to look as submissive as possible, but it wasn’t working. Everything he did only fueled Bill’s anger further and further until.

 **Smack**!

Marco was sent flying halfway across the floor, his face hitting a wooden table leg that broke upon impact. Bill turned around, ready to storm out, he wanted to hurt him more. Yet, something subconsciously – do dream demons even have one- prevented him from furthering his actions. He shouted behind him, “Damn ungrateful kid!” and slammed the door rattling the room.

Marco laid there quietly trying to muffle his sobs, though it proved useless, fearing that Bill might come back to hurt him more. There was a small gash on his forehead where blood lightly trickled down to the nose and onto his lap. There was also a big red handprint on the side of his face along with some bright red scratches, some having beads of bloody building from them. Biting the back of his hand, which caused him to bleed, was still fruitless in trying to muffle his cries. With tears streaming down his cheeks, mixing in with the blood, Marco tried to get up but failed. After a few more times, he decided to crawl out the room down the hall. He didn’t know where he was going, but he felt horrible and ashamed, though he didn’t know what he really did to cause his Master to be so malicious towards him. It hurt. Everything hurts mentally and physically. Ending up in a dark room in who knows where in the mansion, Marco lays curled under a bed on a warm, soft surface. Licking his now wounded hand while curled in the soft glowing and warmth producing tail, his vision slowly starts to fade from exhaustion until everything went black.

The next day there was no sign of Marco anywhere, nor did he ever appear for any meals. Bill didn’t care, he was still irritated muttering, “Stupid kid probably stole snacks when I wasn’t looking. He’s still in the mansion somewhere anyway,” and continued on with his day making deals with humans causing mischievous and chaos. On the 5th day of the week, Will still had not returned, and Marco was still curled up in that dark room. By the 7th day, Bill was fed up with what he called a childish and rebellious tantrum.

“Alright, you stupid mongrel enough with this! Come out !” Waiting impatiently with folded arms across chest, Bill growled, “that’s it!” His eye began to glow, which sent a beckoning command to Marco’s mind for him to be in front of him NOW. He waited, but heard no sound except the quietness of the connected bond of their minds. Bill snapped, and with the snap of his fingers, he emerged in a dark and dull room with a small bed. Turning on the lights and looking around the room in search of Marco, Bill rolled his eyes.

“Come out here **NOW**! “Bill bellowed as he scanned the room. He was ready to set the room on fire until he heard a small but weak, “M-Master?….” That sounded dry and a voice that hasn’t been used in a few days. Crouching down and looking underneath the bed, Bill comes face to face with a dimmed green and brown eye that looks like the light is slowly flicking away from them. Bill paused for a moment when Marco quickly lowed his gaze, barely able to move his head. He looked rather pale and seemed to have lost a lot of weight. That wasn’t a good sign at all.

“S…s-sorry…M-Master…” and that’s all he kept saying, struggling with a disused voice and lack of energy, but he really wanted his Master to be happy, not angry. Though he didn’t know how to satisfy him except stay in one place and out of his way, praying that he doesn’t hate him. Even if that means taking in all the conflicted pain. A pet trying to please its caretaker, one can only do so much with being created a week ago with a redeveloping mind and personality. Trying to move his head so that he was bowing, Marco grunted and whimpered tiredly.

Bill snapped his fingers and made the bed disappear, getting a full view of a weaken Marco who tried again and again to move his head. He was much thinner than the first time, and only after one week, he looks so dreadful. But then again…He never fully recovered from that long month of slumber. There were still also the scars from Bill on his forehead and cheek. He can heal himself, Bill knows he has the power to do that… So why didn’t the idiot heal himself in the first place?

Bill reached a hand out to try to lift his head up but stopped when Marco violently flinched and sunk his teeth into his hand, drawing blood. Bill’s eyes widen in realization and terror as to why he starved himself, didn’t heal himself, and even inflicted pain upon himself. He remembered reading a book on dog behavior- he may know and see all but emotions are a whole different thing for him- when it talked about dogs showing submission and odd behaviors. Because of trauma in response to either their owners or people they’ve come into contact with. And…he was the cause of that…A sharp pain went through his chest and filled him with a few unfamiliar emotions, but there was one emotion he knew of. Regret.

“Hey, stupid kid, stop hurting yourself!” Bill demanded. This only caused Marco to flinch and bite down harder. Bill started to get irritated again but quickly calmed himself down, reminding himself not to make it worse. He put to much time and energy in damn near bring the kid back life only for him to die again. Panicking a bit, Bill thought back to Will and shuddered, thinking, _“Do I really have to act like him!?”_ Looking back down at Marco, Bill let out a huff of defeat. Crouching down a bit close to him, Bill reached his hand out a few inches and mustered up his softest voice.

“Look m-…. No Aureuaeq, look, I’m... I made a regretful decision. Please stop biting yourself.” Bill beckons.

Marco stopped and looked up, surprised, and curious as to who was speaking so gently. He thought his Master Will had returned but found it to be Bill. He quickly lowered his eyes again, letting the blood dribble down his hand. Bill inched his hand a bit more towards Marco slowly. However, he stopped when he saw Marco slight flinch again. All the fight and energy was worn out, he would surely die if Bill hit him again.

“I promise I won’t hurt you,” Bill continue using a small and quiet voice. It wasn’t as gentle because come on. Bill? Quiet? Gentle? It’s preposterous for those to even be in the same sentence describing him. Yet, that did have some effect since Marco stop flinching when he started to draw his hand near again. Though once his hand was hovering over his head, Marco was shivering. Slowly, Bill settled his hand on top of Marco’s head and awkwardly petted him.

“Will is going to be pissed, and he’s not even as innocent as people think he is,” Bill grunted. Marco’s ears twitched slightly, “Alright, let’s get you a bath, you smell. Also, some food gotta get your weight back up before my damn brother come back.”

Hesitantly picking him up, Bill popped them into a bathroom and gently sat him down. The bathroom was quite fancy and old looking. Double sinks with a white marble top and silver metal. A toilet in the far corner along a white wall, almost like a shield, stood between it and the rest of the bathroom. On the other side was a glass shielded section that had two shower heads inside: One that was mounted to the wall and one that had a long tube-like metal attached to it and could detach further from the wall. Then there was an elegantly crafted 7 feet porcelain enameled cast iron bathtub sit a few feet from the middle wall that had racks hung with fluffy looking towels. The bathroom walls itself were tiled with traditional ceramic edge tiles that had a stony design to them while the floor was done similar to the walls. It was also decorated with conventional candles, which mantles were silver, even though there were modern lights installed. There were fabricated material, rugs, towels, etc., here and there that were all either a cream or white color. Bill obviously did not care for interior design that didn’t look chaotic and badass, but this was not just HIS residence. The other bathrooms were either these colors or had darker tones.

Anyway, Bill ran a warm bubble bath and snapped his fingers, and Marco’s clothes disappeared. He tried to cover up, though pointless since he could barely move a limb. Bill simply rolled his eyes and waited for the bathtub to fill up before picking Marco up and setting him gently in the water. He considered dropping him in, but that could be another disaster that could cause this little event to start all over again. Looking at the wounds, he winced and quickly healed them. He began to panic when he saw Marco’s eyes starting to close.

“Woah, hey kid, you absolutely cannot sleep here!”

He blinked lazily and kept his eyes downcast, giving a sad but weak, low type whine in apology. This caused Bill to sigh and started to wash him clean without realizing what he was doing. Letting a drawn-out sigh, “This is what I have minions and henchmen for,” Bill continued to wash his hair, scratching his scalp and behind the ears. Marco was happily enjoying it with a happy face and a weakly wagging tip of the tail.

After he was all clean, dried, and in clean clothes - Which consisted of a big shirt for the time being- Marco was brought to the kitchen where Bill fed him at least three days worth of food. Marco scarfed it down but couldn’t eat more since its not that easy to regain strength. At the end of the day, Bill was exhausted and had grown irritated again, trying to calm himself. Marco peaked into the office Bill was sitting in. It was dimly lit with a blazing fire in the center that looked oddly like a TV flickering threw multiple documentary channels, there were humans in it. It was quite an odd sight to see. Curiously, Marco cautiously crawled into the room, trying to be as discreet as possible.

“… What are you doing kid?” Bill strangled out.

Marco stood up abruptly and looked everywhere but at Bill. After a moment of silence, Marco cautiously moved towards Bill, still not looking directly at him until he was in front of him. Bill was staring daggers at the boy, ready to finally snap until Marco sat down beside him on his knees and laid his head directly Bill’s lap with his head bowed. He enjoyed it when master Bill scratched his head and behind his ears. Mustering up the little bravery he had left, Marco quietly ask, “C…Can you…D-do what you did earlier?”

Bill stared in bewilderment at him for a minute. Marco was about to book it out of the room before he felt a hand hesitant but slowly rub the top of his head. Marco relaxed and heard the light thumping of the end of his tail, hitting the floor contently.

“I guess this isn’t so bad kid.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oof this came out a little bit better and longer simply because I was writing it in the daytime at work. Well, it's been a while since I wrote stories and descriptive imagery, so it will get better due time.  
> P.s. Aureuaeq is pronounced Aa-u-r-ma


	4. Chapter 4

Bill just came back from having to deal with a contract that went very wrong, grumbling “stupid meatsacs” and “I should have killed him.” Marco heard his master return but sensed his irritation, he was still a bit skittish and wary around Bill, so he opted to stay put and rest. He usually doesn’t go to Bill unless he is called too or been hit over the head by the brave fairy and wants some attention. Bill never voiced on how annoying it was in fear he might mess up again. But today was different. Bill hasn’t been having the best of luck with contracts lately and has been having pent up anger just ready to explode right out of him. As in literally explode. 

Marco woke up to a jolting crash like glass shattering and things hitting the walls with a thump. Last time he heard something like that, his master hurt him badly. That memory alone caused a tremor to go down Marco's spine. Unfortunately for him, he was pulled by both the inquisitive and bold spirit. Marco currently made his way quietly down the hallways and into the living room where all the noise was coming from.

Once at the frame of the doorway, Marco gingerly peeked his head around to see things floating everywhere, objects being smashed into the nearest thing, and other things burning in wild dancing flames. It was a horrifying sight, and Marco whipped his head out of view. He was trembling with his tail tucked between his legs. Master Bill was mad again, and he had no idea why. Maybe it was his fault. Did he do something to cause this? What could he do to appease his master and quell his rage? Marco whimpered at his desultory thoughts of possibly what to do and how to fix it. All of a sudden, Marco felt a strange pull, and the next thing he knew, he was plopped down on the floor full of broken items. Looking up, Marco's eyes widen with fear as his master was looking down at him with flaring eyes -well eye. Instinctively lowing his head and straying eye contact, Marco bared his neck in submission.

“What is it, mutt?” Bill tightly growled out. This caused Marco to recoil back a little and hunch his shoulder. The silence grew heavy with each passing second, and it wasn’t doing any justice for Bill’s patience. Marco glanced back up at him, then did something that shocked the anger right out of him. Marco slowly stands up and starts to apologetically lick Bill’s cheek. Marco’s tongue wasn’t exactly human but also didn’t look like a dog. It was long and a bit slobbery, yet not as much, but it was even more narrow and pointed. Marco repeatedly licked his cheek and let out a pitiful whine when Bill just stood there, not responding. Bill was solely in complete shock, forgetting all the built-up anger and trying to figure out what the absolute hell was happening. When Marco paused and cocked his head to the side, Bill looked back at him with puzzlement.

“Kid, what are you...What was…What the hell?” Bill tried to get out, but his brain was just not functioning at the moment. Marco didn’t understand his confusion, yet took it as a good sign that his master wasn’t angry anymore and began to wag his tail. His ears are up, and for the first time ever, his set of horns changed to the standing position, which apparently meant he was happy. This startled Bill, even more, looking into Marco's eyes and seeing sheer pride and determination. Marco then boldly continued to lick Bill’s face again and happily wagging his tail.

“Oi! Aureuaeq, what…are...you…doing!?”, Bill cried out between moving his face away from the assault. Finally, having enough, Bill picked Marco up by his waist and held him out so he couldn’t continue his lick attack.

“Really, kid, what are you doing?” Bill questioned while raising an eyebrow. Marco just simply wagged his glowing tail happily, panting with his tongue slightly sticking out.

“Master Bill is not angry anymore...right?” Marco curiously blinked.

…Bill didn’t know how to respond to this situation at the moment. It was all very…bizarre, and Bill is literally the king of all things absurd. Sighing, Bill sat Marco down while scratching the back of his neck.

“…I’m not angry at you kid, just had a rough week is all” Bill looked back at Marco and shook his head when Marco tilted his head to the side again. Snapping his fingers, everything in the room was put back to normal, all the glass and broken things cleaned and fixed back into their natural shape. The flames that burned around them went out in a poof, not an ember or a single speck of ash was left behind... “I wish you had gotten a bit more violent tendencies in you. I would have probably bonded with you better. I could have sicced you on some of my minions or maybe some humans,” Bill thought out loud while feeling giddy at the idea. Marco whined a bit, which caused his ears to lay back and the drooping set of horns to appear. Lowering his head Marco quietly let out a dreary,” Sorry Master Bill, I know I’m a disgrace to you…”, as he cast his eyes down to the ground shamefully.

Bill swallowed and internally panic. _” I can’t win with this kid, can I? Why the hell can’t I shut up either? Since when the hell did start caring !?”._ Doing the only thing he could think of, Bill kneeled down rubbed Marco’s ears. It seemed to have worked, but the output effect was not what he excepted. Marco was absolute putty in his hands, tilting his head so Bill could have better access to rubbing the inside of his ear. His ears were standing high, along with his happy set of horns. There was a light thumping sound, but his tail was relaxed along with slowly the rest of his body. No, the thumping was lightly coming from Marco, hitting his foot lazily against the ground. It startled Bill a bit out of his actions. Marco focused back on him and pouted. Not whine or whimper like he usually does. Pout. Then he laid his cheek of Bill’s lap, who was sitting on his knees by now, which squished and made his pouting face…Absolutely adorable. If Bill had a heart, it would have stopped right from shock when Marco grabbed his hand and placed it on the ear that was on the non-squished cheek side.

“Why did Master stop? Please continue. Please?” Marco asked with big puppy eyes.

When Bill still didn’t comply, Marco let out an impatient whined groan and tapped his tail once against the floor. Oh god, he was pouting even more. He eventually abided and scratched his ears. Making a mental note on this new development of behavior, Bill sighed and wondered what more surprises were there to come? His thoughts were cut short when Marco pounced on him, causing him to fall backward and sputter as Marco started to lick his face again. Happily wagging his tail and panting, all that ran through his mind was, _“Masters not mad anymore! Master actually pet me again! Happy!”_. Bill heard these thoughts, and for some reason, couldn’t find the will to push him off. Sighing, Bill decided to tolerate it for a bit. At least he’s showing more emotion than he usually does. Thinking back to that book he read on canines – don’t judge – there was something that said to bond with your pet in ways that made them comfortable and trusting of you. Some ideas were getting the pet use to you and your surroundings, another was giving them toys or treats from time to time. Thinking, Bill sat up and lightly pushed Marco back.

“Hey kid,” Bill called out and held up his hand, conjuring up a medium size bone. Marco's attention was brought to the thing in his hand, staring at it, trying to inquire what it was. “Here, chew on this. Dogs usually like to chew on these things.”

Holding it out towards Marco, he watched as Marco quizzically, with wondered round eyes, sniffed at the object in his hand, unsure of what to do with it. Eventually, taking it into his own hand, Marco inspected a bit more. “ _It looked odd, what was he supposed to do with it? Master Bill said to chew on it… But it does smell good…and I have this sudden urge to just bite_ ”. Hesitantly, Marco bites the bone. Staring at it again for a seconds before he started to chew and nibble happily on it, laying down on the floor and give all his focus on eating his new gift. Letting out a breath, Bill was glad that his pet seems to be enjoying himself more around him. Tiredly, Bill floated out the room, down the hall, and into the kitchen to get something to drink. Coming back into the room two minutes later, Bill came face to face with Marco starting at him happily panting and wagging his tail. No bone in sight except a few crumbs.

“Kid what happened to your bone?!”, Bill asked quite stunned. Marco simply kept panting with a broad smile and tilted his head. Thinking about it, he wasn’t an average dog, along with having precariously very, very sharp teeth. It really shouldn’t have been a surprise he finished that bone off in a heartbeat. It was probably like eating a very crunchy carrot. Bill floated to the couch and sat down, giving up on questioning the not so usual strange strangeness of the day. Marco sat next to Bill on the floor and stared up at him expectantly. For what, even he did not know. All he knew was that he was in a good mood. It was very adorable, though Bill would never admit that out loud.

The next few weeks were pleasantly simple without any hiccups and mishaps. Well, there was an incident where Marco was wandering around outside in the mansion grounds. He was exploring, sniffing the normal-looking flowers, and running away from the shrieking and snapping ones. It all started when Marco heard something lightly fluttering nearby, searching around he spotted the source to be a ball of glowing black light. Tilting his head curiously, Marco carefully walked towards it, but it started flying away. Wagging his tail excitingly, Marco transformed into his dog form, subconsciously, and chased after the fluttering black light out the gates. Now how he got out, it was a wonder because the gates were closed and locked uptight. He didn’t fly, no Marco doesn’t know how to use his wings yet. He simply did what his Masters usually do to get places. He teleported right to the other side of the gate as if it wasn’t even there. Marco kept running after small orb of light, jumping over big rocks, dodging around trees, ducking underthings. So hyper-focused on the flying creature that he didn’t notice his surroundings until he didn’t feel anymore ground underneath him. Stopping in his tracks, Marco looked down and saw that he was high up a tree on a lone branch. The forest dark and eerie, almost pitch black. Even the leaves on the trees were black, light only shining through from red skies above and the random lanterns with eyes or mouths below. Occasional bat eyeballs roam from tree to tree here and there, making themselves cozy and resting upon branches. Marco started to panic and whimper, however, that did not help his situation as the tree-branch began to crackle and creek. The branch finally snapped under his weight. Letting out a loud yelp, he felt woozy from the feeling of fall and couldn’t concentrate much for his wings to work correctly. Feeling an impact but not the hard contact of the ground, Marco's head still a little bit disoriented, looks at what caught him. His vision came to focus coming face to face with…Figure-eight eyeballs? Staring widely down at him. Marco yelped and jumped back out of the green strangers' arms, scampering back to notice another creature that was very short in the shape of a mouth.

“Well, look what we have here 8 Ball. A wandering mutt.” Said the teeth creature, assumingly, looking at Marco. “ I wonder who’s pet they are?”

“Maybe someone of the Cipher family brought him here?” The one who was called 8 Ball inquired, still staring at Marco. Marco had scooted back from them, two of his head reeled back in fright while his left head leered threatening lowered, though it did not bare its teeth. He’s never met strangers before, what was he suppose?

“ Heh, if he’s just some random mutt, then he wouldn’t mind having some harmless fun, right?” The teeth creature then launched itself at Marco and clamped down on his tail. Hard.

Marco let out a loud pained yelp and started running around, trying to get it off. _“It hurts! It hurts! Master Bill!Help! Please help!”_ Marco cried in his mind, not realizing he called out in the bond as the yellow-eyed mark began to glow. He heard 8 Ball laughing and growing near, but in the next moment, everything stopped. The pain, the laughter, everything was quiet until he heard the voice of the person we wished to see the most at the moment. Bill was holding the teeth creature in the air, surrounded by blue light. He looked worryingly calm.

“So,” Bill started, grinning like his usual chaotic self, “ who told you, stupid idiots, you could touch my pet?”

The look on 8 Ball's face was frozen in terror while Teeths mouth dropped. Bill then lifted up 8 Ball as well and brought him closer. Bill's face then contorted into one of pure malice. By now, not only were the two henchmen shaking but also Marco. “ You will NEVER touch any of the Ciphers property without **PERMISSION**!” Bill voice converting from his normal voice to his demonic fiery one. On that last note, he threw the demons across the ground, watching as they shook and shivered, clinging onto each other.

Bill glowered at the two before turning his attention to Marco, who was hiding behind a tree. Squinting his eyes towards him, Bill commanded, “ Come.here.NOW”. Scampering in front of Bill with his head lowered and quietly whimpering in fear and guilt.

“…You’ve changed back into this form,” Bill slowly lifted one of Marco’s head up and inspected him,” Aureuaeq, how did you even leave out the gate?”

Marco tilted his heads as he didn’t even know. Looking down at himself, then inspecting the rest of his dog-like body, he concentrated and changed back in a flash. Bill looked at him in wonder as did the other two monsters, but they quickly bowed their heads- well, Teeth its body—as Bill sent a sharp glare their way. Looking back at the monsters, Marco quickly hid behind Bill.

“You two will be given your first and last warnings, don’t let this happen again. Or **Else**.” Bill growled. The two kept their view of direction lowered from Bills. Although, 8 Ball was looking at Marco with a weird look in his eyes…Well, as odd as they could get, but Marco really didn’t like the scent and aura that was coming off of him nor how he was looking at him. Marco uncomfortably squirmed under his gaze and let out a distress noise. “ As for your warning,” Bill snapped his finger, and an eyeball bat swooped down, half petrifying the two into stone. They were then sent to a place full of cat where they were used as scratching posts. Sighing and looking back at the boy who was gripping onto the fabric of his jacket, Bill snapped them back inside the mansion grounds.

Turning around to face Marco while crossing his arms, Bill questioned him again, “ Okay, seriously, how did you get out? The gates are locked!” Curiously, Marco walked up to the gate and put his hand on it, testing if it was locked by pushing it. Making a questioning noise in the back of his throat, Marco looked at his master and shrugged, not really knowing either. “ What the hell were you doing that far away anyway!”

Averting his eyes away from Bill, Marco held his arms behind his back. “ I don’t know… Something was glowing and floating around,” He answered, kicking a small pebble in front of him.

“ A butterfly!? You were chasing a butterfly!?”

Marco lowered his ears and tail at Bills outburst, horns changing to their downcast set. “ S-sorry m-master…I…w-was j-just c-curious.”

“Yeah, well, what was that human saying? “Curiosity killed the cat”? Don’t go wandering out of here again!” Bill sneered. Marco nodded his head quickly and whimpered apologetically. Sighing again, Bill turned around, heading back inside, indicating for Marco to follow. Following behind Bill at a bit of a distance in shame and fear of making him mad again. Curiosity, once again, getting the best of him, he called out to his master.

“What is it now, kid?” Bill replied over his shoulder.

“What is a cat and a human?” Marco questioned, peeking up at his master with big wondrous eyes.

Stopping in his tracks, Bill turned to see Marco’s curious gaze. Slapping his hand on his forehead, Bill groaned, “ We got a lot to teach yah kid.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tries to make chapters a bit longer ╥﹏╥ But really, giving these henchman characters personality and crap might be a pain since many don't really have much descriptions.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The semester FINALLY ended. Been working on this damn chapter for so long -_-

Longs weeks were spent teaching Marco the daily necessities of life and training him on magic, dimensions and universes, humans, and other lifeforms. Well, he was attempting too; Bill didn’t know how to teach really besides books and pictures. He would sometimes just sit and tell him things, but Marco’s attention span shortens when he does that. Bill hated explaining things because it already comes naturally to him, but he had to do it for the kid, or he’ll never hear the end of it. So far, Marco does enjoy books, he enjoys reading them and would sit in the library for hours. Bill sometimes has to lift him out of the library to get him to eat and take a bath. One time he had to just poof Marco away from the library because he sunk his claws deep into floors and didn’t want to leave yet without finishing his studies. Those were only a few rare occurrences of defiance. He was a determined and curious kid that sometimes worried and also annoyed Bill at times. Well, at least he’s getting better at controlling his temperament.

Marco has yet to take a bath by himself since he expects Bill to bathe him ever since the first time -Bill gave up and just put up with it for the time being. 

Today, Marco was clinging onto Bill for attention, who eventually complied and was now petting a big happy 'puppy' in his lap. 

“Shouldn’t you be studying or reading something kid?”, Bill complained while lazily running his hand along the top of Marco’s soft hair. Marco shook his head happily and slowly wagged his tail with his eyes closed. Sighing, Bill rolled his eyes, leaning back and relaxed his muscles. He didn’t have any contracts to fulfill today, nor did he really feel like it anymore now that he’s gotten so comfortable in this spot. Thinking resting doesn’t seem so bad right now, Bill closed his eye and hummed contently. 

That tranquility only lasted for 3 hours. 

Bill woke up to a load of pain in his torso and loss of breath. Holding his midsection, Bill growled out, “What the fuck, kid!?”.

“B-Bill! Language!”

Looking up, Bill sees Will holding Marco in his arms who is licking and nuzzling his face. Will is holding his face to the side while glaring down at Bill. “H-Honestly, Bill I s-swear if I h-hear h-him t-talking like that,” Will growls while Bill simply rolled his eyes. 

“Welcome home, Master Will,” Marco beamed wildly wagging his tail. Will was a little bit in a state of shock, amazement, and worry. It was self-evident that much has changed about Marco emotionally and personality-wise. It was excellent that he seemed much more comfortable and relaxed in Bill’s present but, at the same time, worrisome of this newfound energy. He was hoping it wasn’t from Bill because there would be many problems if Bill was rubbing off on him. Then again, it could be because he is technically a puppy, so he went with the latter. Marco started to lick Will face again while Will let out a giggle sitting down on the couch with Marco in his lap.

Will finally had a chance to come back to the mansion after damn near having a nervous breakdown at the Gleeful twins. With the fact of numerous failed attempts from his boyfriend to calm him down, he was allowed to have a break back in the mindscape. He was a nervous mess from worrying about leaving Marco and him being alone with Bill. He also got a weird feeling that jittered his nerves not long ago, which was his gut feeling telling him something was wrong with Marco. He came back to something that did quell his nerves; Marco quietly relaxed asleep in a sleeping Bills lap while his hand rested atop his head mid-stroke. It was adorable and amazing because Bill has never been that quiet for so long in the presence of anyone and Marco's other sets of horns appeared by themselves. It was even more adorable when Marco lifted his head up with widen eyes and bounded into his arms while pouncing off of Bill. 

“Geez kid, nice to know I was your favorites replacement for a while,” Bill growled, causing Marco to stop licking Will and whine. This made his horns change downwards and lower his head. Will’s eye widen a fraction before he whipped his head towards Bill and growled deeply.

“ **Bill** ,” was snarled, causing Bill to look at Will and back away a little. He wasn’t scared, no not of Will, but a bit taken back by this newfound personality of Wills. Yes, he knew that they were both obviously demons, yet Will was the one who never honestly acted of that nature, not in a very long time at least. But they say the silent and nice ones can snap into the deadliest. And Will was in some weird protective mood right now, so who knows what he could do. However, Will stopped when Marco whimpered loudly while licking his face, then he moved across the couch to lick Bill’s face as well. 

“Sorry, Sorry,” Marco quietly whimpered. 

Will snapped out of it and quickly scrambled to pick Marco up and hold him while rocking him. “S-shhh W-Why are y-you a-apologizing pup? I-it’s o-okay I’m s-sorry did I-I s-scare you?”, Will cried. Hell, he scared himself a bit at his out of character outburst. 

“Loo…Look, kid… I didn’t mean it,” Bill said with a bit of nervousness, hoping the events that transpired when Will was absent never come up. Scratching Marco’s ears to get him to relax, which helped a little. “Calm down, look, everything’s fine. I’ll even give you a treat if you calm down.”

Marco’s ears perked up at that and peeked his head over towards Bill. Bill conjured up a small treat, which was just a big cookie. Marco tail happily thumped against the floor, and he horns change again. Sniffing the treat before gladly taking it and nibbling on it. Will looked on at the scene then turned towards Bill.

“H-have you b-been bribing h-him with t-treats to g-get him t-to like y-you?”, Will questioned while rubbing Marco’s head. 

“You’re just jealous because he started liking me more,” Bill rolled his eye and pulled a cheeky grin. 

Will scoffed and rolled his eye back, “W-who would s-seriously be j-jealous of y-you?”, Bill continued to smirk in an irking way and told him about the time where their pet acted in boldness and developed in different ways. Leaving out a lot of details as to what even caused some of his actions. Will’s eye twitched as he continued to listen to when Marco first teleported and changed back into his dog form. He missed out on so much, and that’s what sent his blood boiling. Then guilt washed over him like a great wave crashing against a rocky cliff with the aftereffect of sprinkled salty droplets of water gently coxing his face. Will started crying. 

Marco stopped in the indulgence of his treat and curiously tilted his head. He sat his cookie down and crawled in front of Will to look at his face. Will sniffled and rubbed Marco’s head, “I-I’m s-sorry A-Aur, I-I m-missed s-so m-much a-and l-left y-you w-with t-that t-thing,” he cried.

“What the hell did you say!” 

Bill being ignored, Marco didn’t understand why his other master was crying nor why he was sorry. He was just happy he was back. Staring at him with sincere, confused, but searching and calculating eyes. Marco lowered his ears a bit and whined to get Wills attention then started to lick the salty water off his face as more kept pouring out. Will kept crying from Marco’s kind gesture but tried to move back as Marco kept getting closer by stepping in his lap. 

“Why is master crying? Are you hurt? Where? Did I do something wrong? I’m sorry if I did,” Marco continued as he nudged his head against the side of Will’s face. He eventually ended up head butting Will with his horn that made him start licking his face again in apology. 

“N-no no A-Aur h-hahaha, I-its f-fine. O-okay, okay I-I get I-It,” Will giggled out, finally pushing Marco to sit down. Bill looked on at them in boredom and waved his hand.

“Mu- I mean kid, shouldn’t you be off in the library by now,” Bill rolled his eye at the thought of such a dull activity, but Marco gets a kick out of it. 

Tilting his head, Marco replied,” Another lesson today, master?” 

“W-what type o-of lessons?! W-what are y-you teaching h-him?” He glared at Bill, who glared back. 

“Anything and everything for your information. Sadly, he doesn’t have the Ciphers knowledge, and he’s dumber than- “He cut himself at the way Will was staring at him as if daring him to finish that insult. Instead, he finished with, “And he was curious, so I being a good pet owner, decided to help him.”

Will didn’t look too convinced by that statement, but looking at Marcos’ excitement, he signed and nodded. Staring blankly at Bill with a raised eyebrow, he stated, “W-well? G-go teach h-him.”

Bill glared at him and folded his arms,” Why don’t you teach him this time, huh? Who knows when you will be back”, he shot back jeeringly. 

“Fine!” Will said while picking up Marco, “L-let’s go A-Aur, I w-will teach y-you properly.” Walking away, clicking his tongue in irritation. 

Will’s lessons were different; they consisted of learning how to cook and clean. Well, Will _showing_ Marco how. He was a bit nervous, just a bit, about Marco handling sharp and hot objects. Thought, it proved unnecessary as Marco had no problem wielding such things. He was practically fire-resistant anyways, and he was cautious while handling knives and such. That was a massive relief for Will. 

Significantly, ever since Marco arrived, everything has been more _off-balance_ than usual. For the whole week, Marco had Will constantly cooing and fussing over him. Squishing his face, cuddling, head scratches, belly rubs, and all the overindulgence that can be thought of when pampering one’s pet. There were times where Will would have little episodes that Bill joked as “True demon mode.” He gets all scary looking, and his whole demeanor changes. It’s usually towards Bill, who brushes it off, though he still will never tell of the entire accidental mishap with Marco. 

On another note, with Will currently here, Marco spends most if not all of his time with him. Following him around in his human or canine form. Unfortunately, that irked Bill to no end and, secretly, sadistically filled Will with pure delight. 

In the midst of all this, Marco developed a habit of waking up in the middle of _“night”_ \- there was no day or night in the dreamscape, time did not touch such a place- from a dream he could never remember. Opting to just sit there awake until it was time to “ _get up”_ He never told his master about it because he didn’t want to bother them with something stupid. He did want to ask why such a thing kept happening because usually, when he does not understand something, his masters will answer. He did not know or want to know how his master Bill will react, and he didn’t want to worry master Will. So he kept it to himself. 

“A-Aur, y-you’ve been r-rather s-sluggish lately. A-are y-you alright p-puppy?”, Will questioned, worry lacing his voice. Marco, the person in question, bolted his head up and out of the book he was supposed to be reading. It was a picture book on different mammals, per recommended by Will, of course. He was sitting in the massive library at one of the bigger desks with a lamp Bill set up for him. Thumping his tail once, twice against the floor, Marco shook his head and tried to give a convincing smile to his master. “I’m fine, Master Will! Just...Just trying to calm down a little bit! Yeah, Master Bill said I’ve been too hyper lately,” He hesitated, hoping that it was enough. 

“T-too hyper?” Will mumbled, putting a hand against his chin. He obviously did not believe for a second that Bill will call something ‘too hyper.’ He absolutely did not want to abuse their connection and listen to his thoughts. Its an invasion of privacy and he wants his puppy to trust him. He’ll just have to keep a close eye on him, though there was some contemplation in informing Bill on the matter. He, for one, still did not trust the tyrant. 

“O-okay pup, I-if somethings b-bothering you y-you can a-always talk t-to me…M-maybe Bill” He muttered out that last part, but quickly smiled at Marco and gently pet his head before leaving the room. Once Will was gone, Marco thumped his head against the table hard enough for it to creak. He felt horrible about lying to his master’s in his face, but he also didn’t want to worry him. Especially Wil, he already worries so much. Painfully deciding to ignore his studies, Marco left the library. It wasn’t doing him any good if he couldn’t focus, let alone stay awake, for his brain to work correctly.

Using his advanced sense of smell, he still gets lost in the mansion since it is way more capacious on the inside then it looked on the outside. He finds his way into a wide opening he’s assuming is the center of the mansion. The clearing was a patch of light blue grass that compliments the oddly swirling, bluish-purple sky. Why the sky is different than usual, Marco did not know. After staring at the atmosphere in amazement for a few moments, he finally surveyed the rest of his new surroundings. There wasn’t much really, there were luminescent flowers almost as big as him that had mouths layered with rows of teeth, along a few regular weird planets scatted on the out ring along the mansion walls. The strangest thing in the garden was a small pond in the far left that looks like it’s filled with water, though the texture and smell do not seem like the particular liquid. It was sizzling with deep luxurious purple bubbles rising from it. Another bizarre sight was the water appear to be flowing upwards out of the pond as though it was falling. Sprouting up behind the lake was a wall of blue vines creeping up the surface of the building. Gawking at the sight, Marco steps hesitantly on the grass, walking towards the center that consisted of a giant lilac mushroom-shaped tree. He sniffed the tree before lightly touching the trunk to run his hand down it. The tree had a smooth surface and was weirdly as soft as an ordinary mushroom, but trailing up the stock were faint glowing turquoise veins that reached to the top of the head and formed the cap shape of the tree. The veins acted as branches; the texture close but not quite the same as wood.

The heat emitting from the pond and the cold air oozing out the ground made Marco’s head a bit fuzzy, not entirely a bad thing, but just made him feel rather drowsy. Along with being lulled by the sound of the upside-down waterfall, Marco assumed it was a waterfall since it looked like the ones in the book, laid down at the base of the tree, and transformed into his dog form. He’s gotten good at casually doing it down since that was the only form Bill would allow him to lay across his lap. Forgetting about the reasons for his disfunction brain and trying to stay up, exhaustion finally catching him and forced slumber upon his wary body. Plunging him into a sleep full of unexplained pain and terror. 

_Screaming in pain and agony, his vision is only filled with dust and a vibrant red. He saw specks of golden blond strands fluttering amongst the cloud of dusk and red, dancing teasingly as they flow in the bloody masse. The sound of giggling and laughter surrounded him, sounding near yet so far away. Why were they laughing? He was in pain and couldn’t move a single limb, it felt like a weight was pressing down on him getting heavier and heavier. Slowing crushing every bone and bursting every nerve in his body. It was painful yet numbing at the same time, it was an unpleasant experience. Even his lips could do nothing but twitch and wobble for the lack of mobility. With full-blown eyes ( Well eye), Marco could do nothing but stare in terror at the eyes and wicked grinning mouths that appeared, sharp and menacing, through the choking air. It was scary, he wanted to call for his master’s help, but his mouth would not open. All he could manage to do was whimper through shut lips. It hurts! It hurts! It felt like someone was stepping on his chest and pushing down more and more each passing second. Marco’s eye widens a fraction as blood started dripping from the amorphous eyes and grinning mouths._

_“Useless”_

_Why…_

_“Weak”_

_No, I’m not!_

_“Disappear”_

_No… I’m scared…_

_“_ **_DIE_ ** _,” they all yelled as long, clawed lanky fingers reached out towards him._

_No, no, NO! Master Will Master Bill! Help me!_

Marco woke up in a cold sweat, shaking, shivering, breathing heavily with wide puffed eyes. He was so petrified that he could not even move nor focus on two blurred heads hovering over him. Heart still pounding a mile per minute against his chest, Marco flinched when he felt a cold hands cuff his cheek, causing him to whimper. When his vision finally came too, he realized the ones hovering over him were his two masters’ faces. Still, winded with heavy breath, Marco began to cry again. 

“N-no, n-no. S-shhhhh, i-it’s okay p-puppy. It w-was just a-a bad d-dream. An n-nightmare.” Will rushed while running a hand from Marco’s forehead through his head. They saw his nightmare, Will was against looking, but the situation was urgent. Marco called out to them through the connection without realizing it. He sounded absolutely terrified; it even cause Bill to somewhat panic. He would never admit to being worried, he was in the middle of making a deal, but when he felt the fear and desperation Marco shot through the bond, he immediately rushed to Marco. It irritated him because it left him unsuspectedly winded. Will was already panicking when he couldn’t find Marco in the library when he returned to check on him. Will was so distressed that using his power in that current moment flew over his thought process. It wasn’t until he heard Marco that he quickly materialized next to him, facing a deep sleeping, and hyperventilated Marco. At that point, Will couldn’t help it, he panicked and had to see what was causing him such distress. The source was absolutely horrifying, the thing they saw in his nightmare, they knew… They didn’t even think it was possible for a dream creature- though he’s not a cipher of full stature- a dream demon, to have nightmares. It most likely had to be the human side of him that was influencing such acts. Will never had a nightmare until he met his Dipper. That was the only logical explanation, along with the memory of the trauma he experienced prior to his rebirth. It was a worrisome fluke that possibly would take some tweaking to fix. This was a first for them, after all.

Nevertheless, that was a problem to solve for a later time. Right now, they had a petrified Marco to handle. Will helped him steady his breathing by doing an exercise he usually does when he has panic attacks, along with running his hand through his hair and whispering soothing words while rocking him. Bill wanted to protest about cuddling him so much, but as if he would get fully involved in emotional affairs. That was what Will was for. After all, this was a fluke as his memories should not be manifesting into nightmares like that. 

“…Hey kid, it’s alright. No one’s going to hurt you,” Bill finally says after silently watching the two, “You’re a powerful demon, not as powerful as me, but that’s what we made you to be.” He finishes as he forcefully resists the urge to reach out. Sighing, he pinches his nose and looks at Will who looks back at him quizzically. 

“Hey kid, why don’t we go play?” Bill asked as he looked back at Marco, who finally calmed down. Will wanted to interject, but Marco’s interest was already peeped as his ears twitched to the suggestion, and red-rimmed eye widens a bit. He wanted to question Marco why he never told them that he was having such horrible night terrors. Yet, now that he’s calmed down from the horrendous experience, he doesn’t want to induce more. So, he let it be for now. 

“Play?”, Marco asked curiously. It sounded fun, but…Last time Master Bill played with him was super terrifying. He chased him in this giant hideous form while having to dodge fireballs that were being thrown at him. He said it was to test his speed and strength, it only pushed down his trust in his master though. Marco learned the hard way that the things Bill do weren’t fun, they were scary. However, his naïve current state of mind could never really turn the suggestions or request down as he didn’t want to disappoint his master Bill again. 

Bill heard this- it’s a habit that he’s secretly trying to stop doing on Marco- and suppressed an eye roll. “Yeah! We can play…Fetch! Yeah, that’s normal, I guess,” He grumbled that last part out. Marco was staring at him with zoned in curiosity, tilting his heads and thumping his tails against the ground.

“Fetch? What’s fetch? I need to get something? What is it?” Marco happily shot out questions left and right. Marco absentmindedly forgot about the panic attack he just had from the nightmare that’s been plaguing him for nights. It was a good distraction, but Will was still skeptical. 

“Yeah!” Bill injected as he picked Marco up out of Will’s arms, he claims Will spoil’s him too much, yet he does just as much damage. Walking towards the edge of the heated pond, Bill sat Marco down on a patch of grass away, Bill conjured up a medium size ball that had a blinking eye in the middle of it. He’s trying, doesn’t mean everything will be entirely reasonable. “Here, when I throw this, just go get it and bring it back to me. Should be simple enough,” he finished as he threw the ball out. Marco instinctually went after the ball running on all fours, in his human form, happily panting with a stretched smile across his face. That smile went away as he watches the ball grow wings and fly up the wall. Digging extended claws into the building’s material, Marco determinedly chased the odd-looking ball up the walls of the mansion. 

“Oi, kid! Hey!” Bill yelled out, trying to get his attention. He was leaving marking in the walls and tearing parts of the materials off as he sunk his claws in. Marco paid him no mind as his focus was so zoned in on the ball. The ball flew higher and higher until it took a sudden sharp turn to the other side of the walls across the garden. At that moment, Marco pounced into midair and sunk his sharpened teeth in the top of the ball. It made a squealing noise, this only caused Marco to plunge is teeth further into the ball until it stopped making noises. Marco made a happy little noise as he proudly puffed out his chest and dropped down in front of Bill. With ears relaxed and his horns curved straight up, he held the ball in front of him for Bill to take while happily sticking his tongue out, panting and wagging his tail cheerfully. The two Ciphers stood there, floored at the boy in front of them. They stood there in silence for a few minutes before Marco let out a small whine at the lack of response. Bill finally took the ball from Marco’s hand and grinned excitingly. 

“That was something, kid! I knew you had it in you,” Bill whistled out as he bounced the ball in one hand and used the other to pat Marco’s head. Marco smiled and tilted his head to the side, confused as to what his master Bill was talking about. He was happy for the affection, though. 

Will cupped his face and squished his cheeks together while happily rubbing his forehead against his. “G-good job p-pup! You f-flew, you a-actually flew o-on your o-own!” Will squealed out. It was a praiseworthy thing, after all. Marco took a moment to realize that he did in fact fly, he also began to apologize for doing something so dangerous. Which, in turn, caused Will to fret over the matter and subconsciously threaten Bill to be more thoughtful and careful. Will’s been doing that a lot lately, and Bill and Kill are usually the ones to do all the threatening. Bill simply, when Will wasn’t paying attention, rolled is eyes and continued to play fetch with Marco for a few more hours until Will deemed it was time for Marco to eat something. 

From their spectated view of the event, Marco just flew for the first time without a thought to it and displayed another side to them. Firstly, he just went up the wall with substantially long claws he never grew before in his human form. Secondly, he used his wings, which they honestly almost forgot he had since he never took them out and landed perfectly calm. Lastly, another personality manifested that was unusual for his gentle nature. It was almost unremorseful and malicious. Then again, it could be instinct, who knows yet. The boy was still a developing mystery that will bring the unimaginable out of the Cipher household. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> God, I've been revising the other chapters in this grammar program. (I don't think it's working properly, but it works for 4 AM writting) I do have an idea of where I'm going with this story, just bear with me ^_^; Marco is very out of character I feel, but he doesn't have "any" memory of his previous life, so that's justified right? right??? ANYWAY, I'm doing my best, it's been a while since I wrote a proper literary piece. If anyone is willing to help be a reviser of any sort I would gladly appreciate it. College life is a bit hectic when you double major, so please be a bit patient. Hehe, I PROMISE I will get through this story.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I AM STILL HERE

Marco was standing around in the living room in his dog form fidgeting in the spot he sat on the floor. Will was in front of him sobbing and holding all three heads in his arms while apologizing profoundly. It was about that time where Will had to return to some human that he calls his boyfriend. Marco didn’t want him to go, he was overjoyed with the times spent happily with both his masters present. It was too short-lived. With Bill having to leave for a contract two days ago and now Will is leaving again for who knows how long, Marco was having a bit of an internal crisis. He really doesn’t like to be in the manor himself, it gets lonely, and he is frightened continuously from his nightmares and the possibility of seeing his master’s minions. He has reasoned with himself many times, along with the reminder from Bill that none who are anything but the status of a Cipher were allowed ever step foot on the residence nor touch anything that is Ciphers property without permission- Marco was included in that category. That still did not settle his nerves.

Will wasn’t helping at all right now either. After a while of sorrowful sobs and hugs, Will finally got up to get ready to leave. Marco finally came back from the scatting anxious thoughts of his mind and zoned in on Will getting ready to depart. Letting out a sadden whine behind his throat, Marco scooted a little towards Will. Will eyes fill with tears and hesitation for a second before he turned around. He couldn’t bear the sight, so with a sigh and the snap of his fingers, he opened a rift into his destination. With swift moments, Will quickly stepped into the portal without looking behind him. An unfortunate decision on his part. 

“Welcome back Blue- who is that?”, The greeting turned question came from this universe residence, Tyrone “Dipper” Gleeful. He stood there with crossed arms, a tapping foot, and a look of distaste gracing his face. 

Will scrunched his lips and gave his boyfriend a look of utter confusion. Finally, following his line of sight, there is Marco in his human form sitting on his knees with fiddling hands in his lap, down casted horns and looking guilty sideways. Will was absolutely floored; how could he not have noticed. Marco closely followed next to Will while he was stepping through the portal quietly in a calm but panicked state. It just happened; he wasn’t in his right state of mind – though that still is partially the case with the previous events. 

“A-Aur!? H-how? W-when?”, Will stammered more than usual. Marco just kept his head sideways and lowered it a little in shame. He knew he shouldn’t have followed him, but he **really** didn’t want to be left alone in an enormous place. What if he got lost again, and no one would find him because everyone was gone? What if he starved, he knew how to make a few adequate meals, but there were still possibilities. 

“So…Is there something you would like to tell me, William?” Tyrone cleared his throat as he started down Marco. 

“O-oh, u-um w-well. I-I…T-This i-is, “Will quickly fumbled over his words, and quickly grew nervous with every passing second. When Tyrone turned his way sharply, Will audibly shut his mouth. “So, is this why you’ve been anxious to disappear so urgently? Are you cheating on me with this _ thing  _ or something?!”, Tyrone gritted out as his eyes glowed a pale blue. 

“W-what?! N-no! I-I”

“Don’t interrupt me when I’m speaking!” Tyrone growled as he raised a glowing fist. He wasn’t going to hit him; he has gotten better and past his abusive ways. Will knew that but still couldn’t suppress a heavy flinch and a loud whimper that escaped his lips. 

The room suddenly fell silent as a low and chilling growl rumbled throughout the space. The room felt like it descended into the hottest area of hell and embraced all the heat it produced. Tyrone couldn’t move a muscle except for his eyes. He glanced at Will, who was wide-eyed frozen in place with a bewildered and horrific expression, mouth agape staring in one direction. 

Looking in the direction, Tyrone beheld the sight of Marco crouching on all fours with his head held low. Ears folded back against his head, and not in a submissive demeanor. Eyes wildly glowing green and pupils slitting, twisting, tearing into a sight incomprehensible for the human mind. Sharp teeth bared in his direction and long talons scraping into the floor. 

Marco wasn’t thinking anything besides, “ _Protect! Protect master Will. Stupid human, get away! Danger! Go away, bad human!”_ Neither he nor Will knew that Marco could act out like this, but Marco didn’t care as he inched towards Tyrone. Never taking his eyes off him, a seething noise tuned in with the growling as Marco shifted into a bigger than standard creature form. Tyrone, on the other hand, still couldn’t believe that he was stuck in place. Rooted to the ground, he stood, not only from whatever invisible force that held him down but that damn forsaking instinctual human fear that shutdowns all logical and controlled sense. And that was telling you something as Tyrone has seen things, done the unimaginable, and faced numerous of inhuman creatures that surround the mystery of this strange little town. It was mind-controlling, everything bone and vain in his body were screaming with the word _danger_ at the creature in front of him. His heart was beating so fast that he felt it might burst right there inside him. It was then Tyrone noticed that the closer Marco got, the more his vision started to obscure his sight, seeing contortions of things even with Will powers that his brain couldn’t comprehend. It was giving him a splitting headache, it made him feel like there was drumming dance being played on his skull, it made him nauseous and wanting to throw up his entire existence. It was absolutely suffocating. 

“ **Aureu aeq! Stop! Sit!** ”

Stopping in his tracks, Marco instantly sat down and ceased his growling. He sat in place, transforming back into his human form, and stared down at his clawed hands. _“What…just happened?”_ Marco thought, mortified. 

Tyrone’s eyes widened and jumped when he heard Will yell. He has never heard Will ever raise his voice in such a manner nor in such a deep and powerful tone. Tyrone stared morbidly at Will as he slowly approached the creature that turned back into his humanized form. When Will reached out his hands, Marco flinched away and laid flat on the floor in a submissive manner while softly whimpering. Tears slowly rolling down his cheeks as he stared down at the floor. 

He was in shock, mortified, by what he had almost done. The experience and emotions were new. They were scary, he even made master Will yell at him. Shaking his head violently, Marco subconsciously blocked out Will calling him and kept whimpering and crying. He should have stayed at home like he was told too. He should of listen, he knew this was a bad idea, but a part of him didn’t want to be left alone or left behind again… _Again?_ Gah, his head started to throb. What was wrong with him?

Will, on the other hand, started to tear up. He didn’t mean to speak to Marco in that way, but something overcame him. He had to stop him; he didn’t want him to hurt his boyfriend. He was also scared because he has never seen Aur show any type of aggression. He never even deemed of him having an essence of aggressiveness in his soul. But then again, his human soul has been corrupted with Cipher power, specifically of his and Bill’s. Yet, he did just contradict his statement by his own recognition, so it shouldn’t have been too surprising. 

Clearing those thoughts away, Will reached down and slowly picked up Marco. Simply cradling him is arms Will began to softly speak “A-aur...Aur? L-listen puppy i-it’s okay. E-everything’s fine n-now, I’m f-fine. No o-one is h-hurt…” Will kept repeat reassurance and talking gently in hopes of calming Marco down from his emotional and alarming state. Eventually, Marco did calm down enough to form coherent speech again. Looking up at Will with sadden puffy eyes and then looking back down with drooping ears, Marco whispered, “S-sorry, m-master Will…I-I don’t… Don’t know what overcame me…I-I c-could’ve I-I-” 

“No, y-you wouldn’t h-have puppy. I-I know y-you would n-never hurt a-anyone without r-reason. But I-I promise y-you he w-was **not** g-going to h-hurt me pup.” Will tucked Marco under his chin while gently scratching his head. Marco let out a miserable sob as he looked up at Will and nuzzled his face. During all this, Tyrone stood there baffled by the little event that just unfolded and the interaction between the two. He didn’t even know Will could raise his voice like that, it was…Well, he didn’t know how to feel about it just yet. He did know how he thought about the scene in front of him. Scolding his face into a glare, Tyrone took a deep breath before clearing his throat and crossing his arms. Jumping a bit, Will turned towards him and smiled nervously while Marco snapped his head in Tyrone’s direction. Eyes round and wide with ears pointing straight up, tail unmoving…Quietly staring. 

“E-erm…..h-heheh, I-I h-have a-a l-lot o-of e-explaining t-to d-do h-huh m-mast- I-I m-mean t-ty,” Will strained to maintain a smile while holding Marco tight and taking a deep breath. Will strolled over to the sofa and sat down with Marco in his lap, he then looked up at Tyrone and hesitantly gestured for him to sit down next to him. Tyrone slowly sat down next to Will while keeping his eyes trained on Marco, who stared back at him will full intensity and concentration of a predator watching its prey. Tyrone grimaced him before looking at Will, who was fidgeting in his seat. Taking a deep breath, Will calmly – as calm as he could be- quickly told the tale of how Aureu aeq came to be. 

After that little incident, everything was settled down…Well, as pacified as things could be. Tyrone was a bit upset about the little control he had over the unusual situation and that Will hid such a big thing from him. It was odd to him that Will kept trying to leave so urgently and was fidgety more than usual; he acted like he used to before they officially became a couple…In those cruel and dark days before he had a change of heart. There was still a tense air over them as they sat in the garden and had tea and brunch. Will insisted that he eat, Marco was not hungry and secretly not as comfortable being near Tyrone. For one, he is still technically a stranger. For two, there was just nagging hold in the back of his mind telling him to keep an eye on him near his master, almost an instinctual sense. Marco didn't really like him being so close to his master either due to the atmosphere he produces. Yet, he concluded he could do nothing about their closeness and didn't want to cause any more trouble for his master. With these thoughts clashing with his initial longing to just go home, Marco decided to keep close by while also keeping an eye on this strange  human is what Will called him. Marco explored the garden for a bit, looking at all the flower and décor the adorned the massive field.“ 

“I-I um. I-I’m sorry a-about Aur. H-he’s never l-like this”, Will sighs as he glances at Marco. The latter, whenever made eye contact with Tyrone, would stare back with slit pupils. When making eye contact with Will, he would wag his tail happily and carry on with whatever he was doing. 

“It’s quite fine…darling, why did you even agree with helping your brother make such a  _ thing _ ?” Tyrone sipped his tea as he side-eyed Marco who had his back turn playing with a pixie? Marco ears perked up and whipped his towards him. Tyrone calmly but quickly averted his gaze back towards Will as he felt his heart speed up if he did not break it immediately. It was an incredibly infuriating thing. 

“I…W-well I d-don’t know e-exactly why,” Will then whispered, “h-he was e-extremely c-close to d-death…and I-I panicked.” He really did not have a logical explication as to why he went along with his brothers’ experiment. 

“I-I guess a-a part o-of me w-was secretly c-curious?” He finally inferred with a shrug. Do not get him wrong, he has done many horrible and unnatural things in his past since he still IS a Cipher. It’s just a part of his nature that he tried giving up and rejecting, but Tyrone did not need to know about that. “And p-please can y-you not r-refer to h-him as a-a  _ thing _ . He w-was a h-human, he’s j-just a dream demon? H-half demon? N-now” They never did question if he was a demon or half-demon since he was remade, but that doesn’t matter. However, they did know he was possibly powerful. 

Tyrone simply cocked an eyebrow before merely rolling his eyes and letting the subject drop. He was, however, in the whole process of recreating a human and bring them back to life as something else. His thought started to drift dark, so he quickly changed the subject and enjoyed an evening with his beloved blueberry. On the other hand, Marco was curiously watching the many magical creatures that ran amongst the garden, hidden to most human eyes. Marco eventually caught a small gnome, holding it in his tail upside down, examining it with fascination and wonder as it squealed and squirmed in his grasp. 

“ _ What’s this? Who are you? What are you? You’re so tiny like that other creature! Your species is a gnome, I think, right? Do you eat people? Do you really eat yourselves? Yuck!”  _ Marco kept asking the gnome telepathically while tilting his head side to side with each question. He was so excited that he kept accidentally wagging his tail along with the flailing puny creature in its hold.

“Aur! P-put the g-gnome down p-please, you’re t-torturing it!” Will called, as Marco stopped in his actions with perked up ears looking at his master. Looking back at the now nauseous looking creature, he quickly looked away and bashfully sat the gnome down. Will sighed before slightly giggling and going back to his conversation with Tyrone. Marco huffed before laying down in a patch of grass and covering himself with his wings lazily stretched around him, glancing ever so slightly in his master’s direction. 

Mable eventually did make an appearance, stopping by and giving both men a bored and disinterest expression. “Brother, Will I see you have returned,” she greeted. Marco quickly popped his head slightly, alarmed at the sudden new presence. “ _ Another one,” _ he thought, slit eyes trained as he watched the similar-looking brunette turn his way. 

“Brother, what is that  _ thing _ over there? Did you discover a new spell?” Mabel asked with a hint of disdain as she moved a bit closer towards Marco to get a better look. Will started to panic when he saw Marco hair hackle and emitted an extremely low but deep growl that his hyper hearing picked up. 

“Aur!”

“Dearest sister, I would advise you not to get to close to him. He is the Ciphers pet apparently, and he is not too fond of humans, it seems. He will not be staying here long.” Tyrone injected, causing Mabel to stop and her tracks and look at her brother suspiciously. Yet one look into his eyes then staring back at Marco who was eyeing her intensely, clicked a switch in her subconscious to for some reason not question it. It was an odd feeling, and it irritated her to no end. Looking back over towards the Marco, she raised an eyebrow, and he curiously cocked his head to the side. And just like the wind, there was a sudden small shift in emotions. 

_ “He’s absolutely adorable, not as adorable as my Gideon, but his concentrated menacing stare is just cute!”  _ Mabel thought as she tried to keep these abnormal disturbances under control. __

Marco's eyes widen a bit more as he heard these thoughts, ears twitching, he started to crawl backwards and growl more when she began drawing near. He did not know what to do, something did not sit right with him about her, just like the other human. 

“Come here, mutt, you’re so cute,” Mable grinned sadistically as she got closer to the growling Cipher pet. Exhibiting more aggressive features seemed to only full her more on her pursuit. Marco was begging out for Will to help him, make this vile creature go away. Will could only watch in a stupor with Tyrone cross from him in the same state as Mabel Gleeful gleefully, no pun intended, chase a snarling, snapping, and terrified Marco around the garden.

“I-I-I…Aur!”

“Will, my sweet blueberry…What the hell is that creature?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah, um the art was a bit rushed since I kept getting irritated with the program and had to take breaks with hand drawing stuff for a hazbin character week. I hate my art style ;_;
> 
> This chapter is quite short isn't it? Sorry about that, I will try to write more soon. My brain hasn't been able to English as much of lately if it is not an essay.
> 
> Some characters are going to seem OCC cause it's been a long long time.


End file.
